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CA_Libertarian's Open Carry Experiences in Central CA

CA_Libertarian

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Jul 18, 2007
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2,585
Location
Stanislaus County, California, USA
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6/28/08

Drove to Ceres to my parents' house (no stops on the way), then continued on to Turlock. Met up with Californian (a new member of this forum) at McDonald's on Countryside Drive. We had coffee and discussed various political and economic issues. Open Carry was discussed, of course. After we had been sitting there talking for almost 2 hours, I noticed two Turlock police dept vehicles pull up across the parking lot. I couldn't see what was going on but it might have been a fender bender on the street nearby. Our coffee meetup lasted a solid three hours. In that time I noticed maybe one or two people staring down my strong-side hip, but no comments were heard.

As we were leaving, Californian asked me, "so do you get comments or dirty looks very often carrying in public?" I pointed out the time we just spent in a busy restuarant, and told him, "that's pretty much how it always goes." He told me that was reassuring and that he might try open carry out. I offered to be his 'wing man' when he's ready to try it out.

Went on to my friends' place by the university. When I got there my friend said they had plans to go to dinner for her brother's birthday, and that I was welcome to tag along. So, we headed out to La Morenita on Golden State Blvd (had to take the scenic route to avoid the schools). Sat and had dinner. After having been there about 30 minutes, my friend's younger brother (who is 18 I think) asked:

Bro: (forget his name right now): "How long have you been a cop?"
Me: "never."
Bro: "So why do you carry a gun?"
Me: "Why not?"
Beau (friend that some of you met at the dinner in Sac): "It's legal to carry a gun."

We had a brief exchange about gun laws, and then I excused myself to go outside to smoke. When I came back, one of the employees was walking up to greet me (she hadn't seen that I already had been there for a while. As soon as I made it through the door she spun around and walked the other way (toward the kitchen and a guy that seemed to be in charge) and I heard her say under her breath, "that guy's got a gun," or something to that effect. I continued walking in and asked where the restrooms were, and she politely directed me to them. When I came out she smiled as I passed her in the hall (obviously not shaken by the presence of my firearm as she had seemed on first glance).

When I got back to the table Beau told me that Miranda's grandmother had asked about my gun after I left (guess she didn't want to ask while we were discussing it a few minutes prior. She said something to the effect, "I was asking about your gun, but then they told me it's not loaded so it's OK." (She had earlier mentioned being a Democrat, and got the impression she's a bit anti-gun.) Sat in the restuarant another 30-45 min while gifts were unwrapped and cake was served. Stood in the parking lot another 15 minutes talking with my friend's dad.

Stopped at Target on Countryside Dr on the way back to Beau & Miranda's place. Spent maybe 10 minutes in the store. Then we all went to Game Stop (same parking lot), where we ran into Miranda's brother and his wife (who we just had dinner with). Spent a good 20 minutes in there where Miranda baught Rock Band. Then we stopped at Safeway across the street to pick up some adult beverages. Checkout was very slow, so we ended up spending a good 10 minutes in there.

Went back to Beau's place and stayed in the rest of the evening (except smoke breaks, of course). Went home about midnight.

Spent a total of 4-5 hours in public and had no problems, as usual.
 

CA_Libertarian

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Jul 18, 2007
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Location
Stanislaus County, California, USA
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Went to Ronning Arms to pick up my new baby: a Sig P220R. This will be my new carry gun once I get my holster (should arrive today).

Got a call from a family member who needed to serve some urgent court papers, and just happened the person was going to be less than a mile from the gun shop. The servedis on probationforassault with a deadly weaponand is known to be a meth addict, so they just wanted me to stand by in case things got out of hand. So, I loaded up my new mags and 'open carried' on the passenger seat.

Service went down without incident. Locked up for the ride home (3 school zones on that drive).
 

poothrowingape

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2008
Messages
210
Location
fresno, California, USA
imported post

pretty cool looking gun.

Ill save the time of people looking one up with a pic below.

P.S. CA_lib. tell me if you dont aprove ill take it off, dont want to hijack.
 

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wayneco

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
Messages
256
Location
Washoe County, Nevada, USA
imported post

Howdy next door neighbors!

My newest rural OC gun is a sig sauer P220 Combat TB in a drop down thigh rig. It's a real head turner. :) Bought it as a birthday present to myself back in May.

There aren't many holsters for the Combat TB because the Sig night sights stand tall so that you can clear an attachable silencer, although I will continue to look for a hip holster for it anyway so that I might have a chance to wear it out more places.

Before that I primarily carried (and often now do when the big rig is overkill, like in urban settings) a Sig Sauer P229R .40 or P228 9mm in a Blackhawk Serpa retention holster on my belt. I really like those holsters for their simplicity and adjustability.

I still haven't really considered what CC gun to purchase yet, I really enjoy OC quite a bit.
 

CA_Libertarian

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Jul 18, 2007
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Location
Stanislaus County, California, USA
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fresno-opencarry-now wrote:
All I know is BOTH of you are too close to me NOT to someday meet both of you guys. I hope we setup an open carry bbq or something here in the central valley.
Keep your eyes peeled; I'll be posting a new thread soon (probably this weekend) to announce a meetup.
 

LostCoast

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
49
Location
Ventura County, California, USA
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CA_Libertarian wrote:
Went to Ronning Arms to pick up my new baby: a Sig P220R. This will be my new carry gun once I get my holster (should arrive today).

Got a call from a family member who needed to serve some urgent court papers, and just happened the person was going to be less than a mile from the gun shop. The servedis on probationforassault with a deadly weaponand is known to be a meth addict, so they just wanted me to stand by in case things got out of hand. So, I loaded up my new mags and 'open carried' on the passenger seat.

Service went down without incident. Locked up for the ride home (3 school zones on that drive).
If you were not going to stop in a school zone why would you lock up to go through it? could it be just an extra precaution?
 

Army

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Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
289
Location
San Luis Obispo, California, USA
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LostCoast wrote:
If you were not going to stop in a school zone why would you lock up to go through it? could it be just an extra precaution?
There is no exclusion for passing through. The law says within 1000', the weapon must be in a locked container.

The only way you could "get away with it", is being in a strange town and not knowing where any schools are (reasonable knowledge clause). But he knew there are 3 schools on his drive home, so he followed the law and locked up.
 

LostCoast

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
49
Location
Ventura County, California, USA
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Army wrote:
LostCoast wrote:
If you were not going to stop in a school zone why would you lock up to go through it? could it be just an extra precaution?
There is no exclusion for passing through. The law says within 1000', the weapon must be in a locked container.

The only way you could "get away with it", is being in a strange town and not knowing where any schools are (reasonable knowledge clause). But he knew there are 3 schools on his drive home, so he followed the law and locked up.

[size=+1][/size]

I found this federal law and its just like having it locked as you would do in a school zone. (darn it)

[size=+1]Transporting Firearms During Travel[/size]

A provision of federal law serves as a defense to state or local laws which would prohibit the passage of persons with firearms in interstate travel.

Notwithstanding any state or local law, a person shall be entitled to transport a firearm from any place where he may lawfully possess and transport such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and transport such firearm if the firearm is unloaded and in the trunk. In vehicles without a trunk, the unloaded firearm shall be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.

Federal law prohibits the carrying of any firearm, concealed or unconcealed, on or about the person or in carry-on baggage while aboard an aircraft.The Transportation Security Administration(TSA) has established certain requirements for transporting firearms and ammunition. Firearms must be carried in a locked hard sided case. Ammunition must be declared and can be transported in checked baggage or in the same container as the firearm as long the firearm is unloaded.

Any passenger who owns or legally possesses a firearm being transported aboard any common or contract carrier for movement with the passenger in interstate or foreign commerce must deliver the unloaded firearm into custody of the pilot, captain, conductor, or operator of such common or contract carrier for the duration of the trip.
 

poothrowingape

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2008
Messages
210
Location
fresno, California, USA
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fresno-opencarry-now wrote:
All I know is BOTH of you are too close to me NOT to someday meet both of you guys. I hope we setup an open carry bbq or something here in the central valley.
Its only a matter of time. i keep an eye open for ocers, the only oneive seen is my security guard instructor. and ive only seen him doing it on private property "the gun range his friends own where the classes are held."
 

CA_Libertarian

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Jul 18, 2007
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Stanislaus County, California, USA
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7/19/08

See the Stanislaus meetup thread here.

7/20/08

Open carried to McDonald's for lunch with my wife. One of the employees came by the table to ask how our meal was (which is very rare at McDonalds). After eating lunch, my wife and I went into Raley's to pick up some items for dinner. After about 15 minutes in the store, we headed out of town.

The rest of the day was spent at a friend's rural property doing some shooting. Between 8 of us we put 300 rounds through my new Sig. Free plug for Wal-Mart: they sell 100 rd boxes of Winchester for $28. All 300 rounds fed and fired flawlessly.
 

CA_Libertarian

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Joined
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Messages
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Location
Stanislaus County, California, USA
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Saturday 8/30/08

Open carried to Turlock to my friend's place. Didn't make any stops on the way, but did head back out during the afternoon to pick up a 12-pack at the corner market. The clerk was friendly as always, and the store was otherwise deserted. As I drove out of the parking lot a LEO was pulling in (not sure if he was city or university PD). In any case I doubt he was there for me (wasn't there long enough for them to be responding to a MWAG call - the last time I was stopped it was something like 10-15 min after the 911 call). Headed back to my buddy's place and enjoyed some barbecue.

Left around 9:50 to head home. Found myself waiting in line at a DUI checkpoint on Monte Vista. Got my ID out ahead of time so I wouldn't have to go reaching on my strong side with a cop hanging on my window - just being considerate. After 5 minutes waiting in line, I was stopped by an officer. He was very polite, took my ID, and asked me how many drinks I had tonight. I replied that I had "none, unless you count a couple Mountain Dews." He made an awkward joke about caffeine being just as bad, then handed me my license and an "information pamphlet" on DUI laws and sent me on my way. (It may be significant to note that I doubt this officer was aware I was carrying. It was dark and he was on my weak side.

The stop, though still a violation of my rights, was somewhat less intrusive than I expected. Still wasted 6 minutes of my time, gas spent idling my car, and polluting (no, I don't buy the global warming hysteria, but our air quality sucks). I decided that it wouldn't be prudent to voice my concerns, as I didn't want to give them any motivation to mess with me.

Man it feels good to be armed again. It was tough, but I made it through an entire month without open carrying outside my home.
 
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